Promo Card and Pack Insert

This time around, we don’t get a blank sketch variant. We have an alternate art version of the uncommon Star-Lord: Let’s Dance from the set. I’m a huge fan of the blank sketch cards and I was surprised to see the alt art instead. It’s still cool and neat looking and it’s nice of WizKids to give us these alt art cards as a thank you for buying full gravity feeds.

You can find the Rules Insert online, here. Make sure to check the WizKids Keywords page to see the current and updated wording on Keyword Abilities.

Gravity Feed

Commons

We pulled 112 common cards; 9 of our commons were foil. We didn’t get any duplicate foil commons. I highlighted the ones we pulled foils of with red text, and the total includes the foil version.

Rares and Super Rares

You won’t get all the rares in one feed, but you get a good amount of them. We pulled 16 rares and none of them were duplicates; 4 of our rares were foil. We also pulled two Super Rares, which are foil.

New Ability Keywords

Call Out – When a character die with Call Out attacks, you target an opposing character die. The targeted die can only legally block the attacking die that used Call Out on it, and no other die can legally blocked the die that used Call Out. If the die that used Call Out cannot legally be blocked for any reason (an effect made it unblockable, two different dice chose the same target for their Call Out, the die targeted with Call Out was KO’d, etc.) then the effect of Call Out is cancelled.

I like that WizKids is putting a great bit of thought into the details of keywords now. Most of the questions I have are answered just by reading the keyword description on their site. Call Out seems like an interesting control ability that I will definitely need to play around with. Using Call Out is a great way to get around particular blockers to allow your other characters to deal their damage or use an ability that requires the character to be unblocked.

Infiltrate – When a character die with Infiltrate attacks and is not blocked, you may choose to remove them from combat and not deal combat damage to your opponent. If you do, they deal 1 damage to your opponent, and return to your Field Zone.

I’m loving Infiltrate and some of the cards that enhance Infiltrate or help characters with this keyword, like a character with Call Out. Characters that use Infiltrate are dealing ability damage to your opponent – not combat damage. That is very important to remember because ability damage is not the same as combat damage. I really like that I can attack with a character that has Infiltrate, use the ability to deal one damage to my opponent, and still have that character to use as a blocker. This ability was made for players like me that love control pieces and play control teams, but still have that bit of aggro in our blood. I hope this ability works as well as I think it will, and I can’t wait to test it out!

Returning Keywords

Remember to always check WizKids Keywords page for the most recent and updated definitions.

Aftershock
Ally
Continuous
DeadlyFast
Intimidate
OvercrushUnderdog

Affiliations

There are several returning affiliations and no new affiliations. Inhumans and Mystics only on one character each. King Black Bolt is an Inhuman and Villain. Punisher Sorcerer Supreme is Marvel Knights and Mystics.

Favorites

Here are several of my favorite cards from my Gravity Feed. Be sure to check out my Gravity Feed Unboxing video to see all of our pulls!

Mantis: Celestial Madonna (left) – I loved using Zatanna: Zatanna Zatara from the Justice League set and I miss her, but her replacement has finally arrived! I know Jade from War of Light has a similar ability, but she’s a Bolt character and I wanted a Mask character. I like having a blocker that I don’t mind KO’ing, and sometimes, that stops my opponent from attacking frivolously. She cost three to purchase and has a TFC of one, which is great for her ability.

Nebula: The Family Business(center) – This Nebula has a superb defense across all levels for the fielding cost. Her purchase cost is on point for her ability and stats, making her a great choice for a variety of teams. She’s a nice control piece that will likely yield decent results and possibly be enough of a threat for an opponent to waste a Shriek or DWiz on.

Quasar: Protector of the Universe (right) – A character that cost four to purchase, has a TFC of three with decent attack, and can also go to your Prep instead of Used Pile after smacking your opponent – Yes, please! I love this card! And one of the most awesome things about her? She’s got the Guardians of the Galaxy affiliation! I want to rebuild my GotG team and this is likely going to be one of the first cards I select – unless I see a better version.

The Spot: Dr. Jonathan Ohnn (left) – The Spot is one of my favorite Spider-Man villains, second only to Hobgoblin. I know that many folks out there don’t like him, but I always thought his powers and abilities were interesting. I was super excited to see him in this set and even more excited to see how thematic his abilities are on all versions. But sometimes, it’s the simple things that are most appealing, and The Spot with Infiltrate is my favorite version. It fits him so well! He cost two to purchase and has a TFC of two. His stats aren’t very high, but with Infiltrate, you don’t need high stats.

Adam Warlock: Standing Watch Over Infinity (center) – This card is like Imprisoned, but pumped up and with legs. All you need to do is force several opposing characters to block him and make sure he’ll get KO’d, swipe those dudes and never field Adam Warlock again! Those dudes are forever trapped! This is a ridiculously good control card that’s easily paired with Wasp: Fashionista from the Civil War starter. Being a heavy control player, I’m star-struck by Adam Warlock!

Angela: Art of the Hunt (right) – I’m digging the Infiltrate keyword and here’s a character that gets to do two damage instead of one when she uses Infiltrate. I like her stats and purchase cost and she’s a GotG affiliated character. I can’t wait to get this GotG team put together!

Captain America: Chemistry Project (left) – I’m a control player at heart, but I like these type of cards that allow me to do direct damage to my opponent. Captain America allows me to deal damage and keep my dude too. This helps put my mind at ease about attacking because this is another card I could easily pair with Wasp: Fashionista from the Civil War starter. There are also plenty of ways to prevent lethal damage to character dice, making this card very appealing to me! His dice stats are really good for his ability and his TFC of five shouldn’t be an issue since you don’t want him to leave the field. I also love the new red/white swirl with the blue accents.

Cosmic Cube: Beyond Imagination (center) – Wow! This Cosmic Cube is begging to be added to Satchel teams! You could easily purchase several different action dice in one turn thanks to this card. It only cost two to purchase and would also be an asset to Front Line teams that need to purchase their Front Line dice. You would want to purchase a cheaper action die first, then you can get the three energy discount on the Front Line, making it cost two. Seems like a good idea to me!

Groot: The Monster from Planet X (right) – This Groot has awesome defense stats on level two and three for his ability. He cost four to purchase, but that’s not bad at all for what he does. I am not a fan of his Global because most of my teams are control teams that slowly deal damage and this Global would give my opponent an opportunity to come back. If I were going to use this Groot, I would put him on a team that doesn’t deal much damage until it’s ready for the killing blow. If not for that Global, he would likely have been my favorite card in the entire set! But it is nice to see a Global that helps you gain life without a silly restriction on it, like the one Pizza has. I don’t mind the Once Per Turn limitation, though. I think it’s actually a necessary limitation for any life gain Global.

Quasar: Might of the Quantum Bands (left) – Here’s another great Quasar card! Now I don’t know which one I want to use. This one is more control than the other, but I like the other too. They both have the same purchase cost, so I guess I’ll have to see how my GotG team starts to come together before choosing a Quasar card. I really like this ability though, because it could potentially stifle my opponent’s ability to purchase something that they need. Quasar’s stats are good for a character that needs to stay active.

Thanos: Throwing Down the Gauntlet(center) – I read this card and laughed out loud. This is the perfect anti-Swarm and anti-Rush card! Thanos is such a beast and I love him! The only thing I don’t like is his purchase cost. It’s a justifiable purchase cost, but it’s very hard to play cards that cost six or more and utilize them effectively. I should know – I play Grodd and I played Colossus: Piotr Rasputin at the Owensboro WKO this last time. Colossus got me into top eight, but it was a struggle. I will most likely try to find a way to play with this card. It has DDK written all over it. I love taking near-impossible-to-play cards and finding a way to make them work, at least a casual format.

Black Widow: Spider’s Bite (right) – So, this Black Widow just made me love Infiltrate even more! My Angela can now do three damage when using Infiltrate. And Black Widow is a While Active ability, so I don’t have to attack with her if I think she could be blocked or KO’d when she attacks. WizKids, you really do love your Black Widows, don’t you? I have yet to come across a set with a Black Widow that I didn’t like.

Groot: Growing Pains (left) – I like this Groot because he makes your opponent think long and hard about KO’ing your characters. There is a possibility that this Groot could change the way your opponent would have blocked, which could give you an advantage and a lead in life total. If you load up your Prep Area with character dice, they surely won’t want to Canister that Shriek or DWiz and then KO Groot because then they could be looking at a hoard of level two dudes! Groot is difficult to KO, unless he’s on level one, or you have a way to force a blocker on him and pump that blocker’s attack up. You could even damage your Groot enough with your own Globals/Abilities so when they do block, it KO’s him and you get his ability. He’s definitely an interesting card.

Nova Corps Uniform: A Symbol of Order(center) – I like that this can be equipped to any of your character dice, including that one Sidekick that always wants to be a Sidekick and never rolls energy. Nova Corps Uniform is a great way to clear those pesky Sidekick walls out of the way too. It cost three to purchase, but it’s a decent action die all around. It can be used on any character die, has an useful ability for any character die it’s equipped to, or can be used as energy if you don’t roll the action face.

The Collector: Taneleer Tivan (right) – This card makes my head hurt. You can steal your opponent’s win condition or control piece and use it against them, which seems cool, but it’s not so cool if you’re staring at a Collector on the other side of the board. It’s also a little confusing. What is considered an ‘unpurchased character die’? Is it any target die that’s still on the card or is it a character whose dice have not been purchased at all yet? I’m fairly certain it’s not the latter. I could see where this card could be super useful and it’s a very nice ability to use against someone, but I feel sorry for all the newer players out there that read this card and instantly develop a headache from trying to understand it. I also feel like this card is a little overpowered for his purchase cost.

Groot Thor: I Am Thor! (left) – What I love the most about Groot Thor’s ability is the forethought that WizKids put into the wording. “Prevent all effects that would copy Groot Thor’s abilities, even if he is not in the Field Zone.” Thank you WizKids, thank you so much for this. I think that ability needs it’s own Keyword. That ability makes me love Groot Thor, but his other ability to copy When Fielded effects from active dice is not a favorite of mine – especially not for his cost and purchase conditions. His die is super cute though.

Punisher Sorcerer Supreme: Calm. Dust.(right) – Oh my goodness. I really like this card. Even with the purchase conditions, this card is a wrecking ball! You may not get to pick the character when he’s fielded, but you do when he attacks, so long as it’s got the lowest attack. This still targets your characters, but if you’re running a team that thrives off of KO’ing it’s own characters, this guy could be a option. You can always Blink-Transmutation him back from the Attack Zone to utilize him on a later turn, or use Wasp: Fashionista’s Global to force a dude to block this tank. I love his die too!

Final Thoughts

So far, the internal synergy of this set is looking good for drafts! I’m excited to see how well this set works outside of drafting and I’m totally excited to be able to rebuild a GotG team! I’ve missed playing my old team, but it’s mostly Golden Age now, except for the Drax from Amazing Spider-Man. I like the Drax cards in this set much more. I’m really excited to try Infiltrate and Call Out. They might seem like totally aggressive abilities at first, but they can fit well on a control team. Call Out is especially good for a control team that has problems with opposing characters being in the Field.

I’m not sure what my overall favorite card is yet, but I think The Spot is my favorite thematic card. My favorite dice from the set are pictured below: Angela for her colors, Captain America for his colors, Daisy Johnson for her die image and colors, and Ironheart for her colors.

I think there are few meta cards that could potential shake things up, like The Collector and his silliness. I think Infiltrate and Call Out might be something if they work as well as I think they do. Cosmic Cube and The Kyln have some crazy cards too that might see some competitive play on various teams.

This set has something for everyone. There are cards that appeal to all different types of players in both casual and competitive play. I can’t wait to see some of these cards in action!

What are some of your favorite cards in the set?
How do you think the meta will shift, if at all?
What cards are you excited to try in a casual setting?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

About a month or so ago, as Mr. DDK and I were strolling around Wal-Mart, we happened upon some tiny boxes. They were cute, compact, and appeared to be the right size for cards and dice. I picked one up and instantly knew it would hold a full team of cards and dice. Mr. DDK was unsure, but when you’ve worked in a gaming store as long as I have, you just know these things. We decided to buy one and test it out. There were lots of colors and I wanted them all, but I wanted take one home and give it a good test run.

The handles snap over the extended part of the lid and all the boxes I have snap fairly tightly. I wouldn’t suggest throwing a loaded box as it would likely come open and spill everywhere, but dropping it on a table probably won’t cause a spill.

Colors (top to bottom): Purple, Berry, Blue, Mint, and Clear.

Team Box

We arrived home and I loaded up my current team’s cards and dice into the tiny box and snapped the lid into place. It was glorious. Not only did all ten cards and action reminder cards fit, so did all twenty character dice, eight Sidekicks, six Basic Action dice, an extra D6, and my pony life tracker. I went back to Wal-Mart and bought the remaining colors.

Here is the team box and its future contents.

Sleeved cards fit nicely in the box.

Sleeved cards will take up a little more space than unsleeved cards.

After the cards, the dice go in! And so does my Rarity life tracker.

The lid fits perfectly, even with dice forming a second layer.

Side view of the sealed team box.

These make great demo team boxes. Each team fits perfect into one box.

They stack perfectly too.

Or you can slide your team box into your dice bag, if it’s big enough.

Mine fits snug in my smaller bags.

I love these boxes for demo teams. I put together a Batman Family team and a Deadpool team as demo teams. Each box holds all the cards, dice, an extra D6, and the dice bag. And because they’re in such an awesome little compact box, I now have more space in my tackle box. I can also keep these boxes in my car with my spare playmats, so I always have demo teams on me without needing to tote my entire duffel bag everywhere. And since these boxes are clear, I can easily see what teams in the boxes without having to open them like I would a deck box, risking a spill.

There are plenty of uses for these adorable boxes. Stickers seem to take well to the smooth plastic too, which is great for someone who loves to sticker their boxes – like me!

FAQ

These are the questions that I’ve been getting from my locals. My locals absolutely love these boxes too!

What are the dimensions?Roughly 3.5 x 4.75 x 1.5 inches.

Where can I find them?
I found all of mine at Wal-Mart. I’m not sure where else these can be found in person, but it appears that Amazon has them too. I found another site that also has these same boxes, called Classroom Direct.

How much are they?
Amazon is super overpriced and definitely don’t go through Wal-Mart’s online site either! I would only use them if it was a last resort! I got all of mine for $1 each at Wal-Mart. It looks like they are normally $1.23 when not on sale. Classroom Direct was the cheapest online site that I found for them.

What other colors are there?
There are the colors I found and I think there is a reddish-pink one and a green one out there in the wild somewhere.

Bar Codes

If you take the bar code to your local store, they can probably tell you if they have it in stock or if they can get it.

Final Thoughts

WizKids – this a great example of how you can package a Team Pack and get the max number of dice for each character in it. I know it works – I did it.

For anyone out there that carries around demo teams or extra loaner teams, I would highly recommend checking out these boxes. There are so many other uses outside of Dice Masters too, so if you find something you like better or just get tired of the boxes, you can easily find another use for them. And they’re so affordable, it won’t make you cringe if you do replace them later. I’ve definitely gotten my $1 worth of use out of all of them, likely ten times over already. Functional accessories are the best kind!

There are even smaller boxes than these that I use to hold my HeroClix Relics. I’ve used it for almost a year now and it was only $0.88! I never knew there were boxes that would accommodate Dice Masters.

This is my Relic Box for HeroClix. The figures are to help with size comparison.

I’ve got a brief video on my YouTube channel that shows just how easy these are to pack, unpack, and use. Be sure to check it out!

What do you think of the cute, tiny boxes?Do you have a unique accessory or an accessory you adore?Leave me a comment here or on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty!

As always, thank you for reading and watching. I wouldn’t be doing this without all of you out there that are reading my articles and watching my videos. You’re all awesome!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

I couldn’t choose just a few of the cards so I decided to scan all the different cards we opened in our Unboxing Video tonight, which you can find on my YouTube channel.

One quick note – the previous version of Ronin was spelled with an ‘i’ and Ronan the Accuser is spelled with an ‘a’. These appear to be two different characters in the Marvel Universe, which I was unaware of until now. I feel silly – but now I know!

Rules Insert

Affiliations

All of the affiliations in this set are returning affiliations. Marvel Knights only had two cards with that affiliation and both were OP cards: Daredevil and Punisher.

The Avengers affiliation can also be found in the set, but it wasn’t listed on the Rules Insert. I’m not certain if there are other affiliations in the set that aren’t listed because I haven’t seen all the cards in the set yet.

It’s also worth noting that the Villains are using the Hydra logo in this set, unlike the “V” in the Maximum Carnage Team Pack. I’m hoping this was just a weird release timing thing and that they aren’t going to continue to use the Hydra logo for Marvel Villains. I definitely prefer the “V” instead.

Keywords

You can always find updated definitions for keywords on the WizKids Keywords page or in The Reserve Pool’s Lexicon.

Card Scans

I divided the scans by rarity and you can click on the card images to get a better look. Look for my Gravity Feed Review on or shortly after August 30, 2017 for a list of my favorite cards!

Commons

Uncommons

Rares and Super Rare

Final Thoughts

There are cool new abilities that look like fun to play around with, and I’m super thrilled to see the return of the Marvel Knights affiliation and I hope we see more of those characters in the future. I think I’m most looking forward to using Call Out, especially with that Star-Lord! I’m so excited to be able to rebuild my Guardians of the Galaxy theme team for Modern Age. I was very sad when all of my GotG characters rotated out, except for Drax from Amazing Spider-Man. I cannot wait for this set to release so I can start building. I already have my pre-order in for a gravity feed! I see lots of cards with some really interesting potential for all levels of play.

Be on the lookout for my gravity feed article with my full list of pulls! I will have it up sometime on or shortly after release day. We plan to do a live unboxing for that as well.

Thanks for reading and please remember to like, follow, and subscribe. Without you, I wouldn’t be able to do these early reviews and unboxings!

Thank you, WizKids, for giving me the opportunity to spoil these awesome cards for the Dice Masters community!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

WizKids is about to release its third Team Pack, Maximum Carnage. So far, all three Team Packs have been Marvel. I mentioned this in the last Team Pack review, but I’ll say it again – I would love to see a DC Team Pack at some point. A Bombshells Team Pack would be awesome!

You can find the review video for the Maximum Carnage Team Pack on YouTube, here.

Team Pack

With this new Marvel Dice Masters Team Pack, you can replay or rewrite the way Maximum Carnage played out! Side with Carnage and some of the other devious and murderous Villains, or choose to side with Spider-Man and his allies and try to bring down Carnage before it’s too late! You can even build a team where Carnage and Spider-Man are on the same side and take the story clear off the rails! This Team Pack pairs well with any of the other Dice Masters sets and is a great way to boost your current team or start a whole new team build!

Pack Contents

~ 24 Character Cards
~ 16 Dice

Keywords

Affiliations

It’s worth noting that this Team Pack is the first time that we’ve seen Marvel Villains with the “V” instead of the Hydra logo for their Villain affiliation. I hope this wasn’t an accident and that they convert all Marvel Villains to the “V” so we can have a Hydra affiliation later!

Characters

Keeping the Bloodhounds at Bay has an interesting ability, but it’s highly situational. Your opponent has to roll and then reroll the character dice onto their level three side. If you have Black Cat active, they’re going to reroll those level three characters to try for a lower level or energy. Possessive and Nine Lives are both cards I would consider playing. Nine Lives is a great blocker! She’s got beefy defense on all three levels and she has a chance to Regenerate. Her attack stats are lacking, but this a character you likely will want to use for defense and not as an attacker. The same can be said for Possessive, which is my favorite of the three. It’s awesome to have a character with a defense like Black Cat’s and also have a While Active ability. Her ability makes her a big nuisance that your opponent may want to deal with while you’re building up to your win condition. She’s not an expensive character to purchase or field, which is another bonus!

Black Cat is a returning character, with a new design for her dice. Her die image is of her hand holding a diamond.

Captain America has the only Global ability in the set, on two of his three cards. S.T.A.R. Labs Global is much better in my opinion, but if you don’t want both Globals on your team, then Cap’s Global is okay. The benefit to Cap’s Global is that it only requires a generic energy and a Shield instead of a Bolt and Shield to use. “How “Bout a Hand, Son?” is a card I’d love to use on a Golden Age Flying Sidekick team. Behind You is a situational type card, but could be useful if you paired it with a Villain making ability or Global. My favorite is Squad Leader, who can give all of your Sidekick character dice Deadly until end of turn, when you field him. There is a minor text formatting error on Squad Leader – the Deadly keyword is not bold. Not a huge issue, but just in case someone tries to argue that it’s not a keyword – it is definitely a keyword.

Captain America is a returning character and has the same die design as his Civil War die, but a different color scheme. His die image is of him running and throwing his shield. The dice cannot be interchanged with previous versions.

No Pain, No Reign and Red Slayer have similar abilities in that they can use the abilities of another die when the appropriate conditions are met. No Pain, No Reign can use a When Attacks ability on another target character die when he attacks. Red Slayer can use a When KO’d ability on a target character die when he’s KO’d. Both are interesting abilities that could have their own uses if you build a team around particular abilities that trigger or activate when a character attacks or is KO’d. My favorite is definitely going to be Unfinished Business. I’m such a sucker for control cards and this similar to my beloved Oracle: Master Investigator. It only taxes them on your turn, not theirs, but it makes them pay two more instead of just one more. I see him being much more useful in Golden Age than the other formats. He cost five on all versions and he’s got some crazy stats. He’s got a 0/1/1 fielding cost and his attack and defense are fantastic! I like this guy and when we do a Golden Age event, he’s replacing Oracle on my team.

Carnage is a returning character with a new design for his dice. The die image is a profile of Carnage’s head and looks to be the same image for the set logo.

Doppleganger!!! I loved Doppleganger in the comics and I’m so excited to see him in Dice Masters. All of his versions do something nasty involving Sidekicks. Living Fractal is really cool in that you can steal their Sidekick that they rolled, but the downside is that you can’t steal their Ally dice from their Reserve Pool. Ally character dice are not Sidekicks until they enter the Field Zone. That makes him a little less cool, but he’s still useful for stealing their Sidekick dude(s) on their turn. With the way this card reads – if your opponent uses Parallax’s Global to reroll an Ally that’s already in the Field, and it comes up on a character face, you can steal it. That makes him significantly better. I like Predator too, but he’s kind of situational unless you’re using Ra’s al Ghul’s Global from the Batman set. Then you can control who’s a Villain and who isn’t. My favorite is Six Arms because you can blow up all your opponent’s Ally dice and Sidekick dice just by fielding this guy, and then deal damage to your opponent as well! He only cost four to purchase, where the other two version cost five each. He also has great fielding costs and great stats too. I really like this guy and he may find himself on my Villain team.

Doppleganger has made his Dice Masters debut in this Team Pack! His die is a new design and his die image is the outline of his eyes.

Iron Fist… I know you were in Maximum Carnage, but did we need another Iron Fist so soon? I don’t particularly like any of Iron Fist’s cards in this Team Pack because they don’t fit my play style. All of his abilities have something to do with you having or spending Fist energy. Sensei is similar to Beast Boy: Animal Magnetism from War of Light with a few differences, but still fairly similar abilities. Beast Boy lets you roll Sidekicks from your Used Pile in an attempt to get Fist energy, and he also gets a defense boost. Iron Fist cost one less than Beast Boy and has better stats overall. Let the Silence Speak lets you deal damage to character die, that isn’t blocking, equal to Iron Fist’s attack for the cost of a Fist energy. You can pump his attack up to make that a lethal blow on big defensive characters. Rolling Thunder Cannon Punch lets you pay as much Fist energy as you want to deal that much damage directly to a character die, but only once during your turn. He only needs to be active for you to be able to use that ability. Out of the three Iron Fist cards, I like Let the Silence Speak the best.

Iron Fist is a returning character with the same die design as his promo card, but instead of opaque green, his dice have a shimmering green color. His die image is his face mask. The dice cannot be interchanged with previous versions.

Oh – my – goodness. Sonic Beam is my new best friend! She’s a new Dwiz – but better! She cost the same, has better stats overall, and doesn’t have to target a die! She is the answer to that pesky Raven on those Ring Teams. Raven protects dice – not cards – so Shriek can maneuver around Raven. I love this card so much right now. But what is this next card? Dark Empathy ignores all text on opposing character cards when she’s fielded!!! Wow!!! She cost one more to purchase and you need to field her to gain that benefit, but oh my Pinkie Pie! She’s a monster! And then we have Sandra Deel who stops both players from activating Globals when she attacks. I like her, but I think I’d rather use Wonder Woman: Ambassador of Peace from the Superman Wonder Woman Starter instead. Sandra Deel is still good though – because she prevents the use of lots of combat oriented Globals, like Blink-Transmutation.

This is Skriek’s Dice Masters debut! Her die is a new design and her die image is a profile of her head with her hair hanging down.

There are a few other Spider-Man cards that I would rather use than these, but I do like Better Way. He’s useful against those nasty blocker types that always seem to get in the way. Staying True is cool, but I wish he kept his ability until the start of your next turn, so he would help defend against Overcrush characters. War of the Heart is great for those teams that use a lot of Alfred Pennyworth: MI-5 dice. He pairs really well with Captain America: Squad Leader from this very Team Pack. Spider-Man has great stats overall and all his versions cost four to purchase. He’s a great character for any casual game.

Spider-Man is a returning character with the same die design as his Avengers vs X-Men and Uncanny X-Men dice, but with a different color scheme. His die image is the spider emblem from the chest of his suit. The dice cannot be interchanged with previous versions.

We’ve only seen one other four cost Venom card, so it’s great to see that all three of these cost four! Corruptor is cool, but situational. There are cards that spin dice down, but it seems like an awful lot of work for a single When Fielded ability. Lethal Protector has a controlling ability that I can get behind! You only need to give a die the Villain affiliation if it doesn’t already have it and field Venom and steal it for the turn. My favorite of Venom’s cards is My Other. His purchase cost is great for this ability and you can attack with him or Fabricate him, and then use him again later! His stats are great, but can be troublesome if you’re wanting to use his When Fielded abilities multiple times. But he does only cost four to purchase, making multiple die purchases affordable and beneficial!

Venom is a returning character with the same die design as his Civil War dice, but with a different color scheme. His die image is a side profile of his head with his tongue lashing out. The dice cannot be interchanged with previous versions.

Character Dice

You only get two of each character die in the Team Pack. If you’re wanting to put three or four dice on a particular character, you will need to buy a second Team Pack (or trade, exchange, etc.). It’s never a bad thing to have duplicates of the character cards, but I’d rather just have max dice in one purchase.

There isn’t a die in this Team Pack that I don’t like. Even the simply designed Doppleganger has a ‘cool’ look to it. My favorite dice are Spider-Man and Black Cat. I love Spider-Man for his coloring and Black Cat has the perfect die image for her character! I also like that they’re reusing some of the previous designs and stats for some of the characters instead of popping new ones out all the time. And I’m a huge fan of the new Iron Fist die color. The promo die was a plain, opaque green and this one has that really pretty shimmer-swirl green. That also helps players tell the two dice apart for competitive level events. I also love that they used (or appears they used) Carnage’s die image as the set image. And Shriek has a really pretty image on her die too and is close to being a favorite of mine as well.

Final Thoughts

Team Packs are marketed as add-ons for starters; to help boost your starter cards or even as jumping on point for a new team build with the help of some booster packs. I think WizKids has done an excellent job with this Team Pack and out of all three of the current Team Packs, this is by far the best! The Doctor Strange Team Pack was okay and the Defenders Team Pack is one that I want to forget, but this new Maximum Carnage Team Pack is a must have for any player, in my opinion.

Not every Team Pack needs a meta breaking card. If most of the Team Pack has playable cards for casual players and then one or two that might appeal to competitive players, then I feel like it’s a good product. In my opinion, this Team Pack is formatted the way that every Team Pack should be. There are affordable characters; all the characters have good stats; lots of the characters have interesting or unique abilities; there is a potential meta card (or two… or three… or more); all of the character choices are appealing and thematic in regards to the Maximum Carnage comic story; and all of the dice are pretty, amazing, or cool in some way.

This is a great Team Pack and I can’t wait to play with these cards!

What are your favorite cards?
What cards do you think will make it into Modern Age or Prime metas?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Special thanks to WizKids and The Reserve Pool for the use of their sites, and especially to WizKids for allowing me access to the product for this article and my review video!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

WizKids has released its second Team Pack, The Defenders. I hope they plan to release some DC Team Packs at some point, but so far there have only been the two Marvel ones, and another Marvel one scheduled for release later this year.

I did an unboxing video for The Defenders Team Pack and you can find it on YouTube, here. I goofed toward the end of the video though. I meant to say, “check out my review article” – not “check out my review video” – Oops!

Team Pack

Pack Contents

~ 24 Character Cards
~ 16 Dice

Keywords

Affiliations

Characters

Star Crossed has a ruling on WORF in regards to Overcrush – which is important to mention here. A character with Overcrush that is ‘blocked’ with Clea’s ability will deal it’s full damage to the defending player. Don’t use Clea’s ability to ‘block’ a character with Overcrush unless you want to take the full amount of damage. Since that character is declared blocked, it would also remain in the Field Zone. Not sure I like Star Crossed much and I don’t like Mistress of the Dark Dimension‘s ability that much either. On Stranger Tides is the only version of Clea I like, but at a cost of six, I don’t think she’ll be making any of my casual teams – especially since every version of Doctor Strange is also expensive to purchase.

I was desperately hoping for a cheaper Doctor Strange. There are now nine versions of Doctor Strange in Dice Masters. Three of them have a purchase cost of six and the the remaining six have a purchase cost of seven. Why can’t I have a five cost Doctor Strange. Hulk has a five cost version! I mean, is that too much to ask? He doesn’t need to have the incredible stats that both dice versions have. He’s a powerful character, sure, but there can be versions with less attack and defense if it means a cheaper purchase cost.

As for the abilities, Book of the Vishanti – thank you WizKids for the wording clarification! I would like the ability if we didn’t already have Lady Deadpool that’s cheaper (by two!) and does almost the same thing for a Bolt. The Doctor is In feels like an ability that belongs in AvX or Uncanny X-Men. But not every card should have a super awesome ability. Shields of the Seraphim would have been cool, if we didn’t already have a three cost Scarlet Witch (purchase cost of FOUR) that puts a die in the Prep Area at the cost of one energy. I do love the art choice for this card though – that’s something at least.

Thank goodness – a character cheaper than five! It’s Patsy! is a lesser version of Lyssa Drak from War of Light. For anyone tinkering with Lyssa Drak, this would be her replacement when WoL eventually rotates to Golden Age. Hell’s Belle – I love this card. I didn’t care for her ability at first, until I realized that I have various ways to get her into my Prep Area. She’s only a purchase cost of three as well, so you could buy multiples of her and keep them cycling – preventing your opponent from potentially purchasing their win condition. Demon Sight for Sore Eyes has a cool ability, but it’s way too conditional for a competitive format, and even more so for casual. I’m not sure she would be worth teching into a team build with the current metas. I like this artwork as well, and I know very little about Hellcat. This card kinda makes me want to check her out books.

I just don’t like any of these Hulk cards. If I had to choose one, I’d probably choose All the Rage, but his purchase cost and fielding cost is way too expensive for that. You also want to keep him active, meaning you’re not getting the full benefit of his beefy attack stat. I guess the others have their place on various team builds, but not for me.

I read Healing Hands first and thought, “Cool. I like this ability, but may be difficult to manage each time I’m ready to attack with him.” I was a little disappointed to see his purchase cost was five, but at least he’s under six! Then I read Pulling Punches and thought, “Now this is unique and interesting. I like this one better.” There are ways to force Sidekicks into your opponent’s Field Zone so you could always get at least one damage on your opponent with this ability. Not too bad for a five cost, but still, he could have had a purchase cost of four and been fine. Then I read Holding Back the Storm. My eyes lit up. It felt like this card was made for me – a DDK kind of card. It’s really easy to not field any characters. His attack stats then become 6, 7, 9. Holy stat increase Batman! Give him Overcrush or make him unblockable and he’s a beast! Sounds like the perfect gimmick combo team for me to build! His purchase cost of five is totally justifiable for his ability and stats – which also makes it a DDK card. I don’t usually build teams with win conditions that have a purchase cost less than five.

Mother of the Year Award – not the worst, but no. Not worth it for a character with a purchase cost of five and low defense. She can be blasted out of the Field with an uncommon Cold Gun on any level. No thanks – next. Ladies’ Night – this could be somewhat usable. It doesn’t specify opposing Globals or opposing character abilities and it doesn’t say ‘other’ character dice. You could target her with a stat increasing Global and get double what you pay for. I think I like this one a little. This sounds like another DDK gimmick combo card! Redeemed is okay too. She’s not the best, but not awful. You can give her Overcrush and your opponent can’t Blink her back. They can still Cold Gun her though! That’s why I don’t like her near as much. Ladies’ Night can stand up to a Cold Gun blast on your turn, after you get the use of her ability. She may get blanked, but she keeps those applied bonuses!

And here we have… a Villain… What?Why on Earth 616 is there a Villain in the DEFENDERS Team Pack? I’m all for diversifying affiliations in certain releases, but with such a limited number of cards in the Team Pack, don’t do that. I’d rather have had a half-way decent Daredevil or a better Moon Knight! *Sigh*

The only Loki that I feel has a remotely decent ability is Master of Delusion. But because of his purchase cost, and because he needs to be fielded to use his ability, he’s not that great. I’m not impressed at all with any of the Loki cards. I definitely would have rather had a four cost Daredevil or Moon Knight in this spot.

Harlem Raised – the only card with a bolded Keyword on it. And the funny thing is, he doesn’t just have it. You have to reroll him – if he’s blocked – to give him Overcrush. And if he lands on level one or two, congratulations, he now has a two or three attack and Overcrush! I wish you could see my face right now… I’m very confused and trying to understand WizKids’ choices for many things in this Team Pack.

But there is a glimmer of hope. Always Forward can buff your other Defenders, which is awesome. But he has to be active, and he has a purchase cost of five. The upside to his purchase cost being five is that you probably only need one of him because with a defense line of 5, 6, 6, he’s probably not getting blasted out the Field anytime soon. I look at Street Sweeper and I’m a little happier, but then I see his purchase cost and I’m not happy anymore. If I’m going to buy a cost reducer of any kind, it’s not going to be one that costs the same or one less than a die it’s reducing the cost of. He’s got that additional ability that lets you prep a die when you field a Defender character die, but I’d rather have had a three or four cost Street Sweeper with just the cost reducer on it.

Positive note – I absolutely love the art on this card. At least Daredevil was in this Team Pack somewhere!

Character Thoughts

Oh boy…These characters are all so expensive, except for Hellcat, and most of the abilities on the all the cards are underwhelming. It’s a rare occasion when I can’t find something in a starter or team pack that I really like. I just don’t know what to say about this Team Pack. I don’t think this is the best Team Pack for a beginner and I don’t think many advanced level players are going to find these cards useful or even fun to play with. The overly expensive characters are not fun – they’re frustrating. You typically just waste a spot on your team for them because most games are done, or close to being done, long before you get to purchase those characters.

I’ve heard TRP say this and I agree with them – if a character costs six or seven energy to purchase, it better be winning you the game. None – zero – zip – of these expensive characters do that.

Character Dice

You only get two of each character die in the Team Pack. If you’re wanting to put three or four dice on a particular character, you will need to buy a second Team Pack (or trade, exchange, etc.). It’s never a bad thing to have duplicates of the character cards, but I’d rather just have max dice in one purchase.

I like the image and color choices for the Iron Fist die and the color of the Doctor Strange die. Clea’s die has the ‘shimmer swirl’ look to it, so it’s pretty as well and I love Hellcat’s kitty image. But of all the dice, Loki’s is definitely my favorite. But I want to talk about Luke Cage’s die for a moment.

After filming the unboxing video, I asked the owner of my FLGS (Jeff), if he knew what the image on Luke Cage’s die might be. He studied it for a minute or two and concluded that he wasn’t sure what it was. We continued looking at this image for the better part of ten minutes, trying to figure out what it was. We didn’t think it was a flexing arm at first because we were both looking at the shoulder as the fist. I’m sure it was a sight to see us both flexing and trying to recreate the backward view we were seeing. We decided it couldn’t be an arm – it had to be a cracked stone or a wonky heart of some kind. We were searching any mental knowledge that we had of Luke Cage for a heart or stone reference and came up empty handed. I was about to leave when it suddenly hit me. We were looking at the arm backward. *Sigh*

WizKids, you have successfully trolled me, and Jeff, whether you meant to or not. Nice one. You’ve apparently claimed a few other victims too as most of the folks that have commented on my social media pictures also thought it was a weird heart of some kind.

It did give me a giggle on my way home from my FLGS last night. When I got home, I showed the die to Mr. DDK and asked what he thought it was. He quickly – without any hesitation – responded, “It’s an arm. It’s flexing, like this. See, here’s the fist.”

I felt even more silly than before. But I see it now!

Final Thoughts

I’m so disappointed in this Team Pack. I know this article probably sounds like one long rant, but I’m not going to sugarcoat how I feel or curb my opinions to appeal to the masses – or WizKids. I love WizKids and Dice Masters, but I want to give an honest opinion on their products. We’re all entitled to our own opinions and if you disagree with me, that’s totally fine. Maybe you see something that I don’t, or maybe most of these cards fit your style of play, but for me, this was a wash. Hellcat is the best character in the Team Pack. Is it worth buying the Team Pack just for her? In my opinion – No. Sorry, WizKids, but I’m not a fan of this Team Pack.

I know this is a broken record type statement, but less than max dice in the Team Pack is still an issue. That’s all I’ll say about it because I’ve complained about this particular topic on more than just a few occasions.

Just because I personally don’t like the Team Pack overall, doesn’t mean I won’t be tinkering with some of the cards. I like Iron Fist: Holding Back the Storm. That’s totally a DDK type of card. I don’t mind that he costs five to purchase because he has great stats and his ability is really nice too. I will most definitely be tinkering and brewing with Holding Back the Storm. I think he’ll be fun to play around with. I need to buy another Team Pack though, just in case I want to use four dice for Iron Fist or Hellcat.

What are your favorite cards?
What cards do you think will make it into Modern Age or Prime metas?
Leave me a comment here or message me on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Greetings Fellow Dice Fans!

This was our last opportunity to play test with our locals before the WKO. Unfortunately, many of our players were either out sick or working, leaving us with only four total players. Mr. DDK volunteered to sit on camera each round so that everyone else had a chance to be on it at least once. I don’t think any of us are ever excited about playing under the eye of the camera every round. You can find the videos on my YouTube channel.

My Team

Same concept as last week, except the one minor change I made. I replaced Elf Thief for Constantine: Antihero. I intended to use Hellblazer, but completely forgot I had Antihero in my bag. At least this helped me make up my mind on which Constantine to use.

Round One

You can see my first round match on YouTube, here. I purchased a Slander really early because he Ripped an Oracle and I wanted to be able to use my PXG or other Globals without having Oracle tax me. I would have purchased Cold Gun instead if I had the right energy, but this is the exact reason that I added Slander. It’s helpful at times when you can’t get your Cold Gun. Oracle is a huge problem for me, but I can’t add her to my team because I really don’t have room for her. I instead use control pieces that help reduce or eliminate her effect but can also be used for other troublesome cards as well. But she’s still an issue, as she was in this match. Near the 7 minute mark in the video, I keep a Cold Gun with no bursts so I could KO Oracle. I was so focused on getting her out of the Field that I probably should have just rerolled the Cold Gun in hopes of energy. I would have had enough to purchase Grodd with the Bolt/Fist energy side of Cold Gun. I don’t think it would have made that much of a difference in the end result of this match, but it’s something for me to keep in mind for future games where it could make a difference. I took a massive beating from this team, but Mask Ring is my ultimate weakness.

Record after Round One: 0-1-0

Round Two

I faced off against Craig in the second round. I knew that if he was able to get a few good hits in with Hit-Monkey before I could get Grodd up and going, I would be done for. He purchased a Flying Car early to put it on Hit-Monkey’s card. He also purchased a few Hit-Monkey dice, but wasn’t able to get them to go off. I purchased Grodd as early as I could, with the help of some Tsarina and Guy dice that decided to roll double energy instead of characters. He couldn’t get his team going and my team performed much better than in my first match, enabling me to secure my first victory.

Record after Round Two: 1-1-0

Round Three

I had to face off against Olivia’s Vicious Struggle team in round three. This is not your standard VS team, so playing against it is a little different. You not only have to worry about her VS dice, but you also have to pay attention to her characters. I completely forgot about her VS dice and went right for my win condition. I was afraid I had made a huge error by doing this, since you need to play the VS Mini-Game against VS teams. I knew if I could get some Tsarina dice in the Field and put her life low enough, she would have a more difficult time against me. I purchased Grodd very early in the match and with the help of Tsarina and Guy, was able to pull off a victory before her VS destroyed me. I had to time my attacks carefully, so as not to conflict with any active VS abilities. Watching life totals is crucial in matches like this as well. If you watch the video where Olivia faced off against Travis, you’ll see why Vicious Struggle is such a risky team to play. Olivia ended up in third place and won a Scarecrow: Legion of Doom.

Record after Round Three: 2-1-0Final Standing: 2nd

Final Thoughts

While Antihero is somewhat helpful against a team that relies on Action Dice, I don’t find him to be as useful as I’d like. I can make them reroll one action die, once. If they’re using Parallax and playing the Lottery, there is a really good chance that they’re going to get that die back on the face they want. Playing with Antihero in this event just confirmed that I need to use Hellblazer instead. I think that final change should round out my team to how I want it. I am at a huge disadvantage against Mask Ring teams with this team. I’ll be sure to get some more testing in during the week with Mr. DDK, and anyone that ventures up to our FLGS throughout the week.

Thoughts on the WKO

I’m super excited to see all of my old friends from last year that are able to venture out again. I’m even more excited to meet all the new friends that I’m going to make this year, because I know of lots of folks that are planning on going that I haven’t met yet – and I can’t wait!!! I don’t think I can express my excitement adequately in words, so I’ll let this picture of Pinkie do it for me.

I’m not expecting to win any matches this year – at all. Last year was just pure luck. I know some of you may be thinking, ‘why drive four hours and pay $15 to play a rogue team that you’re convinced will lose?’

Because I can, and because it’s not about winning. I’m strictly focusing on having fun with my rogue team, meeting folks, and just the overall experience of it. It’s not a defeatist outlook. As long as I’m happy playing my team and walk away with at least one new friend, I’ll feel like a winner!

I had so much more fun hanging out with folks than I did winning my matches last year. Sure, winning is awesome, but it’s not what the game is about for me. I want to find fun combos or different team builds and run with those – win or lose. I don’t expect to see any Grodd teams or many other rogue teams. I do expect a flood of Ring, Vicious Struggle, and Bard. I refuse to play VS because I don’t think it’s a healthy card for the game, but don’t think I won’t play the mini-game. I also won’t play Bard because I don’t like Bard. I won last year with a Ring team – Nova Ring. I will not play another Ring team regardless of how good it is, because I want to play something different from last time. I do not and I will not criticize anyone for playing what they want to play. If you’re wanting to play VS, then play it. I won’t ignore you or be rude to you just because I don’t like the card. I want everyone to play the team they want to play and have fun!

I hope to meet lots of new friends and have lots of fun this year! If you don’t know me, you can find me pretty easy – I’ll be in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shirt, and TMNT pajama pants (if Mr. DDK lets me out of the house in them). Don’t be shy – because I’m super shy around folks I don’t know. Safe travels to all my fellow Dice Masters out there!

What are some changes you’d make without changing the spirit of the team?
Have a build you like better?
Leave me a comment here or on Facebook at Dice Dice Kitty and thanks for reading!

Archives

Archives

Thank You!

Thank you so much for checking out my articles.

I appreciate the support and would love it if you would subscribe via email. Thanks again and don’t forget to check out my YouTube and social media!